May 5, 2000

Gov. Paul Cellucci, Lt. Gov. Jane Swift, Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham, House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran and several other key Massachusetts state leaders held a press conference in the MGH Ether Dome May 1 to announce the formation of a statewide task force to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the health care industry in Massachusetts. The task force will evaluate several areas of health care, including operation, administration, access, regulation, financing, revenues, cost, liabilities, reserves, financial viability, delivery, outcome and quality.

"Massachusetts has a reputation for being a world class leader in medicine," said Cellucci. "The task force will work to protect this reputation and will ensure that the hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents who work in health care are protected and supported."

Leading the task force will be former Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Herbert Wilkins and Stuart Altman, a professor at Brandeis University. "We are truly honored to take on this responsibility," said Altman. "We will work as hard as we can, and I feel confident that many of the problems we will look at are solvable."

Samuel O. Thier, MD, president and CEO of Partners HealthCare System, also will serve on the task force. Other members of the task force include representatives from hospitals, health maintenance organizations, extended care facilities, health care providers and consumer advocates, along with representatives of business, labor and government.

The governor stated that an interim progress report will be submitted by the end of the year 2000 and a final report of findings should be completed by the end of 2001.

Gov. Cellucci speaks at the press conference.